Suspect arrested in fatal DeKalb hotel shooting | News

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LITHONIA, Ga. -- Authorities say one person was shot and killed at a Lithonia hotel early Sunday.

DeKalb County police were called to the Hyatt Place hotel on Mall Ring Road around 3 p.m. They found 32-year-old Franklin Jones shot to death in a top floor hallway.

The suspect, 35-year-old Tito Ivey, told police he shot Jones because he thought the victim was trying to rob him.

DeKalb County Police Capt. Steven Fore said investigators did not find evidence to back up Ivey's claim of self defense -- there was no sign of a struggle at the scene, and Jones was not armed.

Ivey was arrested and charged with murder.

One guest of the hotel told 11Alive that he saw one of the men involved on a couple of different occasions on Saturday. Once, he saw him walked down the interstate. Another time, the man jumped into the pool with his clothes on. Hotel staff gave me a change of clothes after that.